What Does Fish & Game Do

Fish & Game NZ manages, maintains and enhances sports fish and game birds and their habitats in the best long-term interests of present and future generations of anglers and hunters.

User pays, user says:

Fish and Game NZ is everyone who buys a fishing or hunting licence – we are a ‘user pays, user says’ non-profit organisation that receives no government or taxpayer money.

Licence fees are set to cover the costs attributable to management of the fish and game resource. Your licence dollars go towards:

Species Management: 19%

Monitoring and surveying species populations; setting season regulations; managing pressure on the resource.

Habitat Protection: 21%

Protecting and enhancing lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands; RMA issues and advocating against consents which impact on valued habitats and providing ‘national park’ status to our important rivers through Water Conservation Orders.

Access and Participation: 16%

Negotiating and advocating access for licence holders; maintaining a network of access signage, information and brochures; organising special fishing and hunting days.

Public Awareness: 10%

Maintaining public advocacy; schools programme; website and newsletters; community liaison; promoting the right of licenced anglers and game bird hunters to pursue their chosen pastime.

Compliance: 5%

Recruiting, training, equipping and coordinating voluntary rangers, and enforcing regulations to ensure the fish and game resource is sustained.

Licensing: 9%

Providing a nationwide licensing system with a range of licence categories and sales channels that makes it easy to buy a licence and provides the core revenue for Fish & Game NZ.

Council: 6%

Holding regular public meetings of elected councillors to approve regulations and budgets, set policies and provide governance for the Fish & Game system run by licence holders.